Married women get interested in illicit relationships. Chaudhary said, 'Husbands are very busy throughout the day, and at night they drink and go off to sleep. The women feel ignored, and have some fun on the side with men who can entertain.'

HE VISITS Bangkok for business but is not an executive. He entertains clients at venues of their choice. The entertainer is Aakash Chaudhary (name changed), a gigolo from Surat.

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Chaudhary has been in the business for the last nine years. He has been serving in the traffic department for the last 10 years. Asked how he took up the career, he said: “It all began in jest. I used to stand on duty at a crossroad in the city light area. There was this woman who would cross the road daily with her child on way to school. I would stop the traffic to help her cross the road. Gradually, we developed acquaintance. Once, she called me over to her house. There was no one in the house, and she took me straight to bed. When I was leaving, she gave me Rs 2,000 and asked me to come over again.”
He says gigolos get their clientele mainly from the City light area. He says, “I have six-seven permanent clients. At times, there are others too, like servants, in the house. Often they ask for a new partner too. So I spread the word in my circle.”
On why women get interested in illicit relationships, Chaudhary said, “In most cases, husbands are very busy throughout the day, and at night they drink and go off to sleep. The women feel ignored, and have some fun on the side with men who can entertain.”
The scare of STDs too is not a deterrent. Chaudhary says most gigolos keep ‘precautions’ handy.
Lakshya Trust’s counsellor Nilesh Umarwadiya Saraswala said, “There are nothing less than 1,500 gigolos in Surat. Those apart, male strippers too come over from Mumbai on heavy charges. The local strippers charge about Rs 5,000-8,000 to entertain a group of women.”